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“Not the time to ask. You’re not exactly my favorite person right now.”
I wince, but plow forward. “I was supposed to take the dogs back to their owners this morning, so I need you to meet me halfway. At Bryant Park, so I can get them home.”
“Lennox will take us,” Midas says as he stands up, grabs the pants I was wearing yesterday, and tosses them to me.
“Thank you,” I mouth.
He nods with a twinkling smile.
“Can you do that, Fin? I’ll be there in twenty.”
Midas holds up his fingers and mouths, “Ten.”
If his driver can get me to Bryant Park in ten minutes, I’ll kiss the man—well, maybe not. Midas definitely wouldn’t like that.
After a little arm twisting, Finley agrees to be there with the dogs. I hang up and hop on one foot as I try to get my leggings on while walking towards the door. “You really don’t need to come with me.”
“Were you not listening earlier?” He stalks towards me, carrying a red bra—one of the ones he bought me yesterday. “You’re mine. I’m not leaving you to deal with anything on your own ever again. What matters to you, matters to me. What worries you, worries me. You’re my Queen, my perfect mate.” He slides each strap of the bra over my shoulders and kisses me hard as he hooks it behind my back. “Until you tell me you don’t want this, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
Shivers run through my body. His words are domineering and more than a little stalker-y. But I want exactly what he just promised. I want him with me always. Except I can’t make a decision as big as whether or not to marry a man in a week and become a dragon when all I can think about is him pushing me against the wall and doing very naughty things to me.
“I’m gonna need some time,” I blurt out.
His lip curls in a scowl, but his eyes look pained.
I soften the blow by leaning into him, and adding, “You can come with me to deal with the dogs, but I think we should spend tonight apart. Okay?”
He grinds his teeth. The leashed power he exuded when we first met is back. I wrap my arms around myself, trying not to feel rejected by his disapproval.
“Come.” The word is staccato and sharp, but he hasn’t argued with me about tonight. I don’t know whether to be disappointed or glad.
He leads me away from the front door, not towards it. “We’re going the wrong—”
“Trust me.” It’s not a question. It’s a command, and just like all his other commands, I love it. Because I do trust him. Maybe not completely. It’s hard for me to trust something I don’t understand, and I definitely don’t understand why he wants me. But I know he won’t steer me wrong. So I follow beside him as he takes me out to a rooftop patio.
He whistles, and a dragon with deep blue scales appears out of thin air. He bows his head, first to me, then to Midas. Then he lowers himself all the way to the floor.
“Get on,” Midas says.
It was one thing to ride Midas last night—an experience that still feels too surreal to have actually happened—but to ride this strange dragon I’ve never met before in the bright daylight? It feels wrong. Terrifying. “What if someone sees us?”
“Lennox will shield us.”
I look from Midas to the dragon, still prostrate in front of us. It almost looks like he’s smiling—if dragons can smile. Midas climbs on top of Lennox’s back and holds out his hand. “Come.”
I take it and let him pull me up in front of him. With his arms wrapped around me, his chest pressed against my back, it’s comfortably warm despite the bitter wind.
In less than eight minutes, we’re landing in Bryant Park. No one notices us. Finley is already here. Facing away. She startles when we walk up behind her, but quickly recovers, eyeing Midas suspiciously.
“Kidnapping is against the law, you know,” she says. “It was just supposed to be a party.”
“That was my first request, yes.”
“And you’ve made other requests?”
“Finley!” My voice rises in a squeak. I can’t believe my sister is interrogating a Dragon King. If she only knew.
“I have.” He smiles at me, and a little of that dragon fire slips back into his eyes. “In fact,” he says. “I have a request for both of you.”
